Lord of the Rings SVCD to DVD

[SkoalWintergreen]

Okay I know DVD dosent' support the SVCD resolutions and all but I wanted to know if it is possible to convert it over to DVD with reencoding and everything, can I combine the 4 discs into one Mpeg and then split the huge MPEG into movie and sound, then re-encode the video using CCE, witch I have no idea what the settings would need to be, then would i be able to use the mp2? or do I need to re-encode the sound? then obviously I assume I could put it back together with something like DVD-IT or what not. Anyone know how to do it?

[Nahie]

Check out this thread:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?threadid=12676

and this page:

http://www.offeryn.de/dv.htm

There is a util on that page called "AVestensione" that can patch 480x480 mpeg2 files to make DVD Maestro (and maybe other authoring programs?) see the MPEG as 352x480, which is a valid DVD resolution. So maybe it is possible to author and create a DVD with SVCD resolution, even if it isn't technically supported. Now the only question is: can players play such a DVD and what would it look like? Stretched? Squished? Hmm... looks like some testing is in order...

UPDATE: Okay, I tried this. I got a PAL SVCD file and patched it with the AVestensione tool listed above. I had to re-encode the audio to 48 khz, but didn't re-encode the video, which had a resolution of 480x576 (PAL). I then imported the video and audio into DVD Maestro and made a short DVD, re-patched the .vob file Maestro output, then burned to a DVD-RW. Here are the results:

Software DVD players (WinDVD 2.1 and DirectDVD 2.5) Play the patched DVD perfectly! It is stretched to the full window!

Hardware decoders (Hollywood Plus and Netstream 2000) Play the patched DVD perfectly!

Standalone player (Pioneer 343) Recognizes the disc as DVD and plays it, but keeps the vertical resolution at 480, so it only fills 2/3 of the screen :( Maybe the ifoedit guy can make a patch to have it fill the screen???

So the good news is...it can be done, but only if you play the DVD in software players or with hardware decoders, not standalones.

-Nahie

[MustaZERO]

Im transcoding LOTR svcd dvd rip as we speak. I'm just transcoding the video in cce (using avisynth to merge the 4 seperate parts), converting the audio to ac3 in soft encode and making some menus in after effects. There are several ways you can go about converting it, but I prefer to transcode then try and fool a program to accept non compliant video that may not play right in my standalone.

[Methanoid]

Originally posted by Nahie
UPDATE: Okay, I tried this. I got a PAL SVCD file and patched it with the AVestensione tool listed above. I had to re-encode the audio to 48 khz, but didn't re-encode the video, which had a resolution of 480x576 (PAL). I then imported the video and audio into DVD Maestro and made a short DVD, re-patched the .vob file Maestro output, then burned to a DVD-RW. Here are the results:

Software DVD players (WinDVD 2.1 and DirectDVD 2.5) Play the patched DVD perfectly! It is stretched to the full window!

Hardware decoders (Hollywood Plus and Netstream 2000) Play the patched DVD perfectly!

Standalone player (Pioneer 343) Recognizes the disc as DVD and plays it, but keeps the vertical resolution at 480, so it only fills 2/3 of the screen :( Maybe the ifoedit guy can make a patch to have it fill the screen???
-Nahie [/B]

Nahie, try this program as well and report back if it works...

http://www.geocities.com/eby_vdo/

I'm expecting my DVR-A03 real soon and would love to be able to ditch that pile of SVCDs. This program allows all sorts of tweaks to the MPEG stream headers, you could mark it as 352*576 or 720*576 and see if either works?

Meth

[Arky]

fascinating!!

I never knew you could fool Maestro in this manner. Great information -

"I learned something today!"


Arky ;o)

[Nahie]

Progress is being made. I have now been able to get the SVCD resolution MPEG file to play full screen on my Pioneer 343 by having the player switch over to VCD/SVCD decoding after starting in DVD mode...the only problem now is the audio skips...which I think is because I converted it to 48 khz, and the SVCD decoder wants 44.1. I will keep you all updated.

UPDATE: It works. I have successfully made a DVD from a SVCD MPEG file (without re-encoding the video file) that plays at perfect resolution on my Pioneer DVD 343 player. I got this working as mentioned above, but it seems that my player doesn't like MPEG audio for this, but when I converted the MPEG Layer 2 44.1 khz SVCD soundtrack to 48 khz AC-3 or .WAV (PCM) it played fine.

What does this mean? No, you don't have to re-encode your SVCD video MPEG files to get them to play on your DVD player, even if they are 480x480. I have only tested this with my equipment but it seems to be working fine. I will do a complete test with a long movie later this week, after it finishes downloading ;) There are probably a lot of players that it won't work on but then there are probably many that it will.

@Methanoid

I couldn't get that utility to work...it would crash on all the files I tried it on.

[Methanoid]

Nahie

What did U do differently then this time to fix the aspect ratio business?

[SkoalWintergreen]

Woah? what did you do to get it to switch over how exactly did you go about getting this to play? write us a little more details on the process? thanks.

[Nahie]

Well, it isn't too easy right now but I'm looking for some tools that will make it much easier. Until I find them, this is the process...

Here are the tools you need right now:

1 - AVestensione (download it from www.offeryn.com) ****this tool only works for PAL files right now, NTCS has a bug and it won't work, but I have emailed the author and hopefully he will fix it****
2 - MPEG Repair 1.58 or higher from Pixel Tools
3 - Spruce DVD Maestro 2.x
4 - Misc tools to demux MPEG streams and encode AC-3, and convert audio to 48 khz (you can use many tools for these tasks, I use Womble MPEG VCR to demux mpeg streams, Winamp to convert .mpa to .wav, Scenarist AC-3 encoder to encode AC-3, and Adobe Premier to convert audio from 44.1 khz to 48)
5 - DVD burner and burning software of course :)

1) Demux your SVCD MPEG2 file into audio and video.
2) Convert the audio into 48 khz .wav or .ac-3
3) Use AVestensione to patch the mpeg video header (you may need to rename it to *.mpg instead of *.mpv) If you have NTSC files that aren't too big, you can use a hex editor to edit the first header to show 352 x 480 instead of 480 x 480. I'm still looking for a better solution for NTSC files...
4) Here is the tricky part...you must use MPEG Repair to patch the MPEG file to include Pan and Scan information. The MPEG spec allows you to specify a pan and scan portion of the mpeg file. You must tell it to use 480 x 480 as the pan and scan profile, so that the DVD player will show this area in full screen on your TV.
5) Import the files into DVD Maestro and author as a regular DVD, setting the aspect ratio of the movie to "16*9 LB/PS."
6) Burn to DVD-R(W).
7) Put the disc in your standalone. You now have to set your player
to display Pan and Scan. I don't know how to do this on all players but my Pioneer 343 has this setting in the setup menu, and I suppose other players are similar.

That is all. I have even done still frame captures and the video aspect ratio on this hacked DVD matches the SVCD one. So there you have it.

Things to do:

1) See if mpeg audio files can be patched to make maestro see it as 48khz. My guess is that this can be done, and the players can play it. But I haven't been able to figure this out yet.
2) Better (freeware) tools. Most people don't have Pixeltools MPEG repair, and this is a relatively expensive, buggy and hard to use tool. Using a hex editor I can see that all it does is add pan and scan output to MPEG files. This is easy to add, but I'm not a programmer (yet). Also need a tool for NTSC file header patches.

That is all for now
-Nahie

[mikeathome]

@Arky and others:

It's sufficient to patch the stream on time before importing into (e.g. Maestro), than import and after that (close Maestro or just the project) and immmediately re-patch the stream back to original. Maestro (and others) moan about wrong resolution only at import, they later on work with the original resolution video normally. Only one drawback with Maestro, there's NO thumbnail preview available, which is a bit hard to navigate but normal preview will work as expected (even aspect ration is ok).
Patch only the first header. Be aware when you mix different resolutions it's basically impossible to repatch the resoulation in the VOB later on. That's why we've 'invented' the immediate re-patch.

There you go, an exellent resolution patcher, PAL only, maybe we mail the author to implement NTSC and Pan Scan info, shouldn't be that difficult.

http://kickme.to/DVDPatcher

mike

[robinsj]

Mikeathome: I am just a newbie... and i don't really understand what you mean when you say patch on time... and then repatch immediataly... could you please explain the steps you are talking about??

[Nahie]

Thanks Mikeathome. I had heard about that program but couldn't find a copy anywhere. And good news...version 102a works for NTSC files! It has a custom resolution where you can enter any resolution, so you can enter 352 x 480. Remember to only patch the first header. I imported this file into Maestro and it works fine.

-Nahie

[robinsj]

I have just tried this dvd patcher that is supposed to work with NTSC... It didn't, It smushes the video up into the top... about 1 inch wide... and then a whole bunch of green.... am i doing something wrong?

[Nahie]

Well it worked fine for me. Make sure you:

1: patch it to NTSC 352x480 or 720x480 using the "custom" size setting(obviously)
2: Keep the bitrate field the same (copy the value in the right box to the custom bitrate tab).

What decoder did you try? I played my patched files with the elecard player (www.elecard.com) and it played perfectly. Like mikeathome said, it won't display properly in Maestro's thumbnail window, but it will when you use the software/hardware previewer.

[robinsj]

Okay I did that... and using that decoder from elecard it worked.. but now when i try and import it to maestro... it give me the media not supported error... how are you putting the video into maestro

[robinsj]

Also does the audio still need to be re-encoded??

[Nahie]

Same way you import anything into maestro. Yes, the audio still has to be re-encoded. You could make a DVD-RW with just the video to test if your player can even do this first, before bothering to go further. It sounds like your MPEG file has been screwed up somewhere. You did patch just the first header, didn't you?

[robinsj]

I did patch the first header.... with that elecard decoder... did you notice it puts that little white box up in the upper right hand corner.. and the video kinda plays shaky? will it does this on the standalone to?

[Nahie]

The little white box is a watermark...because the elecard player is shareware. No, it will not do this on the standalone. The video was not shaky for me but it had block errors during playback. Again, this will not happen on the standalone player (if your player can decode SVCD at that bitrate in the first place).

[robinsj]

Okay, I think I am getting there... but I am having trouble keeping the audio and video in sync with each other.... i am demuxing with mpeg2vcr .... converting the mpa to wav with sound forge, encodeing the wav to ac3 with softencode... and remuxing with bbmpeg... but the audio is slower then the vidoe??? with my final output

[Nahie]

Originally posted by robinsj
Okay, I think I am getting there... but I am having trouble keeping the audio and video in sync with each other...the audio is slower then the vidoe??? with my final output

Make sure your soundcard supports 48 khz. Some older soundcards don't, and some newer ones don't do it right. Also, there is a reason I use adobe premier to convert the audio...it is the only reliable way I have found to upsample and downsample 48khz. I think soundforge will speed up and slow down the audio to get to the desired sample rate.

And now, some more observations. I burned a much longer SDVD (is this what we should call it?) today, with a PAL copy of a longer video. This video was encoded at 480x576 48 khz audio. I can't seem to find audio specs for SVCD so I guess you can use either 44.1 or 48. Most SVCD's seem to be 44.1. Anyway, this video sample was much easier to put on a DVD-R. I didn't have to decode the audio or resample it or anything. And the big surprise is that I didn't have to add Pan and Scan info to it either. This was really strange, as the video didn't have any pan and scan info in it (I checked it with a hex editor). Odd. But it wouldn't import into DVD maestro (crashed half-way through, something about a sequence header being out of order) so I made the DVD with DVD wise. I don't know why NTSC material is being so difficult, but I'm going to try making a NTSC disc with DVD wise and seeing how it works.

[bedhead]

hey guys, this sounds very interesting. if you are done with all your testing, could you post a guide on how to do this step by step? thanx.

[SkoalWintergreen]

hey would it be possible just to load the video file into ReMpeg and then transcode into DVD format? match source? shouldn't that work?

[Streetcleaner]

Is there a possibility to add another language track? What Programs would you use?

Greetz
Streetcleaner

[Nahie]

Originally posted by SkoalWintergreen
hey would it be possible just to load the video file into ReMpeg and then transcode into DVD format? match source? shouldn't that work?

The whole point of this is to avoid re-encoding the video (and in some cases, the audio).

Well I downloaded a very large movie (hint: see topic of this thread) this weekend and tried it out today. And I got it to work on my standalone player, without re-encoding the video at all. I had to resample the audio to 48khz and recompress it, but it still sounded great. Maybe I'll write a guide on this today, but basically all you have to do is follow the instructions I wrote before. NTSC material is more difficult than PAL, but it can be done, and it works in a Pioneer 343.

-Nahie

[Streetcleaner]

my Problem is that i wanted to try to dub it german from a vcd but the point is that the movie is shorter than the svcd release because one or two scenes were cut out.
Are there any Programs out there to pull audio tracks into MPG2 Files like i want?

Greetz
Streetcleaner

[FirstBorg]

Hi. Im new to this board and have a question.
I have also a movie splitted in 4 svcd files, and want to merge them to one file. I tried it with Tmpg, the program has frozen. I treid it in dos with copy. That worked fine, but the generated file has only the time index of the first svcd file. It is 3 gigs big, but has only the time from the first file in it, if I play it with powerdvd. I want to burn it to a dvd too, and make chapters for it, as scvd. But i need the file with the correct time code. Can you help me?
thx in advance

[FirstBorg]

I just read that this copy command, destroys the header. Is there a program to repair the header?

[robinsj]

Same problem here.. to combine all 4 files... maybe you can help nahie... I am doing this with the NTSC version.... and I got it to work great... here is what i did....

1. Demux with MPEG2VCR...
2. Convert mpa to wav with sound forge.
3. convert wav (44.1khz to 48khz) with premier.
4. softencode wav to ac3 (come to find out this step isn't nec.
5. dvdpatcher the mpv files to 720x480
6. open up the new mpv file in dvd maestro
7. save the project, and exit maestro
8. dvdpatcher the mpv files back to 480x480
9. I have no idea how to use dvd maestro, so I wante to try something, I opened up spruce up.. and then opened the mpv files, and they opened (wierd huh), if I tried before using dvdpatcher the first time.. they wouldn't open in spruce up... dvdpatch them and then try opening them in spruce up... still no go... oddly.. only way i could get them to open was by patching.. open in maestro.. save project...repatching... then open them in spruce up... worked like a charm.. hehe... audio and video in sync and all... but then, i started thinking... why don't i figure out how to combine all these files.. so i just have one file... well.. I used tmpgenc to merge the files... and it would never finish.. it would just get to 99% and hang.. although it merged it all, i would just hit abort... the file was still there i played it... seemed to play okay... then take that one file.. and go through the patching and such to get it to open in spruce up... it would open... but it would only register as the length of the very first file... what is going on?? Since this.. i have tried about 5 or 6 different mergeing utilites... all other programs i try finish without hanging... but still the same final result... any ideas....

My idea now is.... i am going to get all the 4 files into spruce up... create a img... rip the img to the harddrive.. so it has all the VOB's in it... and merge the vobs and see if that works... who knows... this sure is fun though isn't it!!!

[FirstBorg]

Thats the same problem I have. I read that if this problam appears the header of the new, big mpg file is damaged. So, we would just need a utility to repair that header.

[robinsj]

But, what ruined the header in the first place?? they should all have headers considering they work seperatly... so where are the headers getting ruined??

[fiv5]

Hi,

I'm also trying to convert SVCD to DVD, but I am quite prepared to transcode/re-encode the video. But I have little experience with avisynth, my current plan is demux the mpg (NTSC, 480x480 SVCD), run the mpg throught avisynth (mpeg2dec.dll, and use a resize filter to resize the video to 720x480) then encode back to DVD MPEG2 with CCE (v2.50 opening the .avs file).

Just basically wondering if anyone can telll me if this should work, currently when i load the avs files into CCE it says:

'Frame Size 952 x 56 is not supported, supported frame size is up to 720x576'

Obviosly im doing something wrong :) , any help greatly appreciated :)

Ta

fiv5

[FirstBorg]

Originally posted by robinsj
But, what ruined the header in the first place?? they should all have headers considering they work seperatly... so where are the headers getting ruined??

Lets say a mpeg file looks like this : [header/frames]. after merging 4 files with the copy command, or several tools based on this command, the new file should look like this: [Header1/Frames1/Header2/Frames2.....] But every header after Header1 will be interpreted by windows as frames, so you have this [Header1/frames]. And this header1 has only the time of the first mpg file saved.

We need a programm that analyzes the hole mpg stream and rewrite the header.

[robinsj]

Well... right now I am almost ready to make an image... in my previous post, I said that it wasn't neccessary to encode the wavs to AC3, I was wrong... you have to... because if you just leave them as wavs, they are to big and they won't fit on the dvdr.. so you need to encode them so that everything will fit on the dvdr... I am almost done doing that... once that is done, and the dvd program creates me some VOB's, I am hoping that I can merge those... Which would be nice, because then no re-encoding took place anywhere, and the quality never changed... Should be done in about an hour... I'll post the results...

[FirstBorg]

If your finished and it works, could you post a step by step tutorial on how you did it, and maybe links to the software.

[Nahie]

As far as merging the SVCD MPEG files, I used DVD Maestro to do this. I couldn't get it to work any other way...tried all the usual tools to no avail (TMPEG, Mediaware Solutions M2 Edit, Vitec MPEG Pro, even DV-Tool - none worked correctly). I suppose I should have mentioned this before but I didn't know if it was just a specific problem I was having or if everyone would have this problem. DVD Maestro has a way to combine MPEG files and make a sync soundtrack for them. I'm not sure if all versions support this but I know 2.914c does. Just put all your patched movies in a single movie stream and right-click, select "export MPEG file" and it will merge the files into one. But before you do that, you should make an audio track. Put all your clips in the movie timeline and right-click in an audio track, select "create sync audio track" and it will open another window where you can specify which audio track goes to which movie. It will then join them and output a file (only works with .wav and .ac3 though, and it will convert your .wav files to .aif, which you will have to convert to .wav unless your .ac3 encoder supports .aif). I am working on a guide but it is taking a long time because I'm more familiar with DVD Authoring tools than desktop publishing tools.

-Nahie

[FirstBorg]

where can I get DVD Maestro?

[shobe]

Hey Nahie, so you are able to do a SVCD2DVD successfully with PAL or NTSC? Please write a guide for NTSC, thanks.

[shobe]

Found this guide from VCDhelp.com

http://www.vcdhelp.com/vcddvdr.htm

Nahie, is this guide similar to your method? If not, what are the differneces?

shobe

[Nahie]

That guide doesn't use DVD Maestro or Pixeltools MPEG repair, so it won't work for NTSC (with my experiments at least) but it should work fine for PAL. It also appears that he has altered the screen shot for DVDpatcher, because the 1.02a version doesn't allow you to patch just the first header (the radio button is broken).

[robinsj]

I didn't try the DVD Maestro way of combining the mpegs... I will try it... You tried the same programs I tried to get them to merge... and it didn't work... I will post a guide on how I did it, as soon as i get all the bugs worked out of doing it...

[robinsj]

I am just finishing up with a NTSC version... svcd2dvd, and I will post how i did it.. step by step after I am all done...

[SkoalWintergreen]

Are you guys having problems combining the orginal MPEG files? I'm extracting the mpeg from the bin and then i'm going to combine all those MPEG files before I do any demuxing or anything like that

[robinsj]

Yes... you can't just combine them... because of the timecode problems... we have figured out that you can combine them with DVD Maestro (thanks nahie, tried it, worked great) ....

[FirstBorg]

could you please tell me where I can get DVD Maestro, and maybe send me mpeg repair please?

[shobe]

Great guys, sounds like this SVCD2DVD is possible after all. Great job!!

shobe

[robinsj]

Almost done.. then I will post a guide.... working with these 3gb files is a real resource HOG.... and here are my system specs...

Athlon MP 1800
512mb DDR PC2100
4 80GB 7200 ATA133 Drives
ATI Radeon 8500

Man... pulling in those movies files into dvd maestro.. hogs everything up...

[shobe]

Thanks Robinsj for keeping us updated.

shobe

[Nahie]

Okay, my guide is done (pdf with screenshots). Now I just need a place to upload it...

UPDATE: how about here...

http://www.nahie.net/Convert_SVCD_DVD.PDF

Let me know what you guys think of the guide.

[robinsj]

Nahie.... I think I spoke to soon, I did what you said with combining the mpegs in DVD maestro... but when I went back to import that new mpeg into dvd maestro... it gets all the way to 78% and says this ...

"Temporal References In GOP #13593 (zero-based) are out of sequence..."

Then I Hit okay... and it says this

Temporal References in a GOP are out of Sequence..."

Then Hit okay again... and it goes back to the main dvd maestro screen....

Only Thing I can think of is something was screwed up at the beginning of the 4th video because of it stopping at 78%...??

[Nahie]

Hmmm...strange. Did you repatch all the MPEG files to 480x480 after importing them? Try that.

[robinsj]

this is what i did... patched all files to 720x480... imported them into dvd maestro... saved the project... close maestro... patched all files back to 480x480... opened maestro... opened the project... and tried exporting to new mpeg... that worked... at this step... i tried importing the new mpv file into maestro and it said invalid dvd blah blah blah... so i repatched the new mpeg to 720x480... then tried importing it to maestro... and at 78% i get the error...

[Nahie]

Well I don't know what to tell you on that. DVD Maestro has given me similar errors on files before, but then other authoring apps would give me these errors too. Usually it is a corrupt MPEG file. Maybe you could try exporting the video again, but to a different drive this time?

[robinsj]

Yeah... was just about to do that.... I just read through your PDF file... I don't think the PAN & SCAN is correct for NTSC... I didn't do it... in fact, I read through to make sure I had done the same steps as you pointed out... few things I did different.. convert to ac3 first... but I didn't do the mpeg repair thing... and my picture doesn't turn out like the NTSC picture that you put in there... it turns out like the first one... correctly.. and I didn't even use the mpeg repair tool.... ??

[Nahie]

What DVD player are you using? The pan and scan stuff may be specific to my player (Pioneer 343). Those pics on the end are screen captured right off the player though. Without the pan and scan, it doesn't work right.

[robinsj]

I use the pioneer DV-440 ... not much difference between the two.. I was working with the sample mpg first.. much easier to work with 20mbs of files then 3gb of files... i wanted to make sure it worked first.. so i messed with the sample... when I was working with the sample, Funny enough, I had done everything to it that is in your guide now, except for the Mpegrepair part... and it played fine... and the picture looked just like the Correct one...

[robinsj]

Crap... tried everything.. but still get that faliure at 78%... guess i will try starting from the beginning.. who knows maybe i did something to one of the files and didn't relize it....

[Nahie]

Very strange, but it looks like it might be a bug with the Pioneer 343. I tried with the sample first too, and that is where I got that strange picture. So I tried different settings with the pan and scan (720x480, 352x480, etc.) until I discovered that 480x480 worked. The larger numbers (720, etc.) would push the picture further to the left. Has anyone else tried this?

[robinsj]

I never did anything with that pan & scan, or with mpegrepair for that matter... i always changed dvd patcher to 720x480.. and it came out fine... just like your first picture.. wierd...

[FirstBorg]

I got something strange too. If I try to work with cd3 or 4 in tmpeg I get illegal mpeg stream. If I want to load them in dvd patcher, it says that there is no sequence header, and I cant patch it.

[robinsj]

Never had that problem.. you may want to re-extract your cd3/4 mpg files

[FirstBorg]

nah... I redownload them to be sure... :)

BTW, I found a very easy way, just with cd1 and cd2, cause of the prpblem with cd 3 and 4. Demux cd1 and 2 and then join the audio and video files separately and this will work(I just tried it with the videostream. I joined with mpeg repair, and I have a nice stream with the hole time index of both files :)

[robinsj]

Which mpeg repair did you use?? Pixel Tools? or what?

[SkoalWintergreen]

okay I have MPegRepair but I don't have the PanScan.ini file, can that be posted here?

[robinsj]

I don't think it is necessarily its own file.. if you look in the mpegrepair.ini file you will find the same code in it as in the picture in the guide that nahie posted....


Nahie: I have tried everything, still errors out at 78%.... can't figure it out....

[SkoalWintergreen]

you sure b/c he only shows that one line? and that ini file may not be adding the pan scan features

[robinsj]

I am pretty sure... but even besides that.. Mine works without even using mpeg repair... Worked with all 4 files split up... my goal now is to get them all combined... still working on it... I think it has something to do with my 4th video file... because I just combined the first 3 successfully... so now, I am on to figure out whats up with the 4th video file....

[SkoalWintergreen]

well to display on an NTSC TV properly you have to have the panscan, obviously you could make your own .ini file easily just have to know exactly what it says, can anyone post this or can anyone post the actual file?

[robinsj]

Well I am telling you as a user of NTSC tv... and i am guessing you have viewed her pdf guide... mine works perfect on a NTSC TV, and picture looks exactly like her correct picture in there, I am sure I would be able to tell if it looked like the other picture...

[SkoalWintergreen]

alrite thats cool, I'll try it without that crap, thanks man. and I did the 352 resize header from the pdf is that better then the 720? I resized to 352x480 never the less it did load in Maestro

[robinsj]

i don't know... haven't tried the 352 resize... i have gotten it to load into maestro too... but question is.. have you been able to combine the mpegs in maestro as stated in her guide?? i can... and then obviously to reimport the new mpeg back into maestro, you have to run it back through the dvdpatcher... then import it in... mine stalls at 78% and quits with an error? have you gotten this far?

[Nahie]

Looking for this?

LINK REMOVED

Rename it to PanScan.ini. It came with my install of MPEG Repair, don't know why it didn't come with yours.

Still have no idea why you're having problems, robinsj. Worked fine for me, the whole movie. Maybe you need to download it again?

[robinsj]

Okay... I am following your guide right now.. step by step... will even do the pan and scan... one question for you... at the end of it, you just say, import your joined audio and video files... so you don't mention anything about haveing to re-dvdpatcher the new mpeg file you made from within maestro? do you not have to do this yourself?

[robinsj]

One more question.. is there any difference between patching the res to 352x480 or 720x480 ??

[Nahie]

I don't think I had to repatch the files. I believe DVD Maestro just combines the files and doesn't change any of the header info, which is already patched. And I don't think there is any difference between 352x480 and 720x480...the idea is just to fool Maestro into importing the files. Both are valid NTSC resolutions for DVD, so both should work.

[robinsj]

Okay.. well.. when I did it... and got all 4 files into maestro... then exported the new mpeg... and then tried importing the new mpg... it gave the invalid resolution error... so it was then that i repatched the new huge mpg with dvdpatcher.. and tried importing it.. and it would stop at 78%... so have you done this.. exported the 4 files combined, and been able to import it back in without have to use dvdpatcher??

[Deathman]

Hi all..

just a quick note to say that i have successfully converted lord of the rings and 4 other svcds to dvdr... the way i did it was quite simple really..

Demux each mpeg .. use dvd patcher to convert to 720x480 ( i had problems with patching to 352x480- picture was all over the place after i compiled) import into dvd maestro ..repatch back to 480x480 ... convert audio into ac3..
use sync audio on each mpeg to create single audio track .. export mpegs into 1 mpeg from maestro .. patch single mpeg to 720x480 .. reimport back into maestro ... repatch back to 480x480 .. compile .. works perfect on both my computers .. and all 3 dvd players i got .. :)

[Nahie]

Originally posted by robinsj
Okay.. well.. when I did it... and got all 4 files into maestro... then exported the new mpeg... and then tried importing the new mpg... it gave the invalid resolution error... so it was then that i repatched the new huge mpg with dvdpatcher.. and tried importing it.. and it would stop at 78%... so have you done this.. exported the 4 files combined, and been able to import it back in without have to use dvdpatcher??

I didn't have to repatch the combined MPEG file, it just imported, and no error at 78%. It worked fine for me, the only thing I had to do different from you all it seems is I had to add the pan and scan vectors for my standalone player to play it correctly.

-Nahie

[robinsj]

SUCCESS.... finally... Okay... maybe I should have tried a little harder to diagnose where the problem was coming from, because i did several fixes in one... so i don't know what it was that made it work... but it works now... I redownload cd3 and cd4, and ran them all through the pan & scan (still haven't come to the conclusion that this step is needed, I might run it through again with the new cds without this step, just to see how it comes out)... but either way... it works now... I am done... hehe

[FirstBorg]

You do it all so complicated.....

[SkoalWintergreen]

I get that 78% error to before the video stops, trying another authoring program though

[robinsj]

Please keep me updated as to what you do.... I got past the error.. but i am getting different errors now, and I know it is a result of that error... tell me if you get it to work and what program...

[Nahie]

robinsj, I finally was able to replicate your 78% importing problem. It happened when I went to re-import the files into DVD maestro. When I did this the first time, I imported all the seperate video files, exported them, then re-imported this file and all was well. It seems that if you close DVD Maestro at any time during this process (to patch the file back to 480x480 for instance) it will make a new .prv file when you open it again, and this is where it fails. I don't know why this is, but for now don't close Maestro and it should work. Also, you can repatch the .vob files Maestro makes after it is compiled.

-Nahie

[robinsj]

Yeah... I found that out.. about closing it and opening it, after trying several test... What i was trying to do, since SpruceUp uses the same .prv files I was trying to use maestro to combine the files, and then use spruceup to create the DVD... Because I have no clue how to use dvd maestro, and it I have tried, and it is pretty confusing, so now I don't know what to do....

[robinsj]

I found out the Mydvd allows you to put those files into it... but then i have read on these forums that it sucks... do any of you of an opinon on it?

[Nahie]

Originally posted by robinsj
Because I have no clue how to use dvd maestro, and it I have tried, and it is pretty confusing, so now I don't know what to do....

Maestro? Confusing? That's the first time I've heard that. But then again the first DVD Authoring program I learned was Scenarist...

Do I need to make a Maestro Authoring guide for you? It is really pretty simple. Didn't your Maestro come with a manual? All you have to do is:

1) Import your assets (video, audio)
2) Put them on the movie timeline
3) Set the "first play" target in the "connections" panel to your movie. (under view, select workbook mode, and then you should see a tab for connections under your movie timeline window, below where it says 29.97 fps. Select the "command sequences" icon on the top of the upper left window to display the "first play" target in your connections window)
4) Build the project (tools->compile or alt-c).
5) Burn the disc :)

That is all for now,

-Nahie

[robinsj]

Hehe... my "version" was missing the manual, maybe you wouldn't mind posting the sprucedvd.hlp file... and consider it a guide?? it would be very helpful....

[p-NUT]

Heh, sounds a lot more complicated than what I thought.
Thanks Nahie for the step-by-step.
As soon as I can track down all the software (some look hard to find. :(), I'll give it a go.
Sounds like there are a bunch of pretty bright people in here, thanks for all the tips!!
:)
p-NUT

[FirstBorg]

It is so simple...
Demux the 4 files, then join the video files with the copy command, then join the audio files with the copy command, and then multiplex it again. Now you have one big file...

[robinsj]

There are a few more steps then that firstborg, you have to make it dvd compliant, and 44.1khz sound isn't, 480x480 resolution isn't either

[FirstBorg]

you can put it as svcd on a dvd'r. it has the same quality.
and a resample to 48 KHz is senceless, cause in the svcd stream it is in 44 khz, so it does not have frequecies above it. And if you resample that, you have "room" for 48, but you dont have frequencies in that "room".

[p-NUT]

Originally posted by FirstBorg
you can put it as svcd on a dvd'r.

If you could tell me how to do that, you would be a hero in my book.
I have tried this with a few different programs with no luck at all.
Have you done it, and how?
Thanks,

p-NUT

[Nahie]

Don't forget we're talking about standalone capability too. You can join the files and put them on a DVD-R as a big MPEG file, but that won't play in any standalone players that I'm aware of, just software and PC hardware decoders.

[FirstBorg]

I have not done it yet, cause Im trying to add a german audiostream, and cant get it synchron to the video stream. But with Ulead DVD Moviefactory, you can put the mpeg2 file(if you joined it) as svcd on a dvd-r. You can even set chapters..
and every standalone player which can read a mpeg2, the most player are able, can read this. This is a real SVCD.

[p-NUT]

Nope. I tried with Ulead DVD Moviefactory, it doesn't work.
This is my first journey into the DVD-buring world. The more that I have read in the last few days here has convinced me that a SVCD/DVD-r is just not possible.
I think the advice in this thread is the best there is. I am just trying to collect all the software to start the process now.

p-NUT

[robinsj]

Firstborg, this thread was about converting it to DVD, not making it so the svcd would fit on a dvdr and play still in svcd format... We were trying (did) accomplish the task, of taking a SVCD format, and making it into a dvd that any standalone will play (not all standalones play svcd) without re-encoding the videostream. So, you say resampling the audio to 48khz is senseless.. No it isn't, because if it isn't 48khz, no DVD Authoring program will recognize it, and I tried Ulead, you can't make it into dvd format with ulead. I have tried several, with dvd maestro being the only one that was successful, all others you couldn't trick into thinking it was a dvd resolution video stream...

[Blind Voyeur]

Ok to get a few things straight here. I followed the guide and now have everything pretty much perfect. I have a few questions though.

1. When I first compiled my project it was slightly to big to fit on a dvd-r. (I did not convert the audio to Ac-3 I left them as wavs)If
I convert them to ac-3 it should fit, right?

2. Is there good help somewhere on creating nice menus for Dvds. I work as a graphic artist so graphics are no problem, but I haven't used maestro or any other software alot yet.

Thanks in advance to any help that is given this is a nice formum and I am glad I found a place to go with helpful people.

[robinsj]

Yes, I previously stated in one of the messages you didn't need to encode it to ac3, well, you do, or the wav file is way to big.. like 2gbs or something... when you encode it to ac3 (be prepared, more waiting, takes about 1hr30mins) it will be about 500mb...

[Rallemulle]

I got the Lord of the rings dvdrip or svcd(dont really know what it is) and its 4cds and every cd is about 760mb to 794mb and i dont have any dvdburner, so i want them to be in 700mb, so heres what i want to do: i want to connect all 4 cd's into one big mpgfile(the cd's are in mpg format) and then i want to split them into 5 cd's, in the same cuality... what program am i gonna need? and how do i do??

[FirstBorg]

you dont need to put them on 5 cd's. Trust me, you can burn these files on a 700 mb cd.

[smack]

I also get the 78% error when importing assets. Could it be DVDpatcher can only handle 2gig max files as the problem? That is about the point when Maestro kicks it out. Anyway, I skip the step where you export mpeg file, skip pixel tools mpegrepair, and authoring still comes out fine.

[SiC]

I was wondering if anyone has tried DVDit with SVCD files. In DVDit you can create what they call a cDVD which is basically a DVD-Video format (with *.vob, *.ifo, etc.) disc on a DVD-R but allows you to use any MPEG2 files. So basically it will let you author a DVD with a 480x480 MPEG2 file. My question is, by using this cDVD format, will you be able to play the DVD it creates on a standalone DVD player?? With Nero Burning ROM you can basically do the same thing but with the SuperVCD settings, you can use any MPEG2 file (like 3000kbps 720x480) to create a SVCD (although it gives you a warning that the file is not within the SVCD specs). This SVCD Nero creates WILL play on my Pioneer 525 standalone DVD player. So would a cDVD created by DVDit play on my Pioneer?? I would try this but I don't have a DVD burner yet......

[robinsj]

No you can't play this file in a standalone, when you get to the burning part, it tells you that... that it will not play in a standalone player...

[Mnemonic]

#1 will this work in a NON-SVCD compatible player?
#2 I cant find a bunch of the programs you have listed, and yes i have searched some places, could you email me a location where i can find these programs?

mnemonic@advetisnet.com

[robinsj]

Yes this will work in a non-svcd standalone player... I have gotten it to work in my Pioneer DV-440, SONY DSP-S330, and another sony dvd player, and the playstation 2... both sonys don't support svcd or the ps2... the pioneer does, but it works in all of them... and no we can't post links on where to get the software... search and ye shall find

[Mnemonic]

you could email me the links, it would be greatly appriciated! I have searched to no avail!

[BioMonk]

Hey guys, I've also got a copy of the 4 svcd's but there appears to be a some mpeg corruption in disc 2 and 3, most notably in Elrond's Council (the scene bridging disc 2 and 3). Do I just have a bad copy of said svcd's, or is that the way they all are?

--BioMonk

[nkarnold]

Attached is a guide i wrote myself, based on various combinations of what already exists.

All i can say is.. I got it working using this.

[shobe]

Thanks nkarnold for providing us with your guide. But the zip file you attached has nothing in it.

shobe

[dopef1sh]

The file is correctly attached in this forum, and it *quite* helpful.
One caveat: it uses DVD Maestro, so those without it are out of luck. I myself have a corrupted copy of the svcds, but was still able to use these directions.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?threadid=15833

--josh

[saint]

I'm able to download the zip, but it's empty and registers are 0 bytes....

[talman]

I know this thread has been down for a while but I have a question about nkarnold's process of SVCD to DVD (and didn't want to start a new thread). I've followed it exactly---step by step but am having audio sync issues towards the end of the movie (last part of disk 3). Originally I thought I had a corrupted disk 3 so I downloaded it and found that wasn't the problem.

Funny thing is that if I play the SVCD bin image it works absolutely fine--no sync issues at all. The sync only becomes an issue after Maestro has compiled the project. Does anyone have any ideas about how I can get the audio in sync or why it's not in sync in the first place? Thanks!

[talman]

Well nothing like a little trial and error to fix the problem. For those of you having problems with the audio sync on this project, here's what worked for me:

After each mpeg had been demultiplexed, I took the resulting mp2 files and converted them to wav using winamp's diskwriter output. I then ran each wav through soft encoder and encoded each separately into an ac3 file. I then imported each ac3 into media asset window in Maestro. I right clicked on the first audio track in the movie playback menu and then selected create audio sync track. Assign each ac3 to the appropriate video section and then click create sync track (or something to that effect). After it's finished a new ac3 will show up in the media asset. Use that ac3 file for the audio track, compile, burn, and you're done! Perfect sync.

[Kb_cruncher]

what r all you people doin with lotrs on dvd\svcd.
it was made in my country by a director from my country and i haven't seen it anywhere:(

[LB]

Don't know if this thread is dead or not. But to the last comment, HAH. Kinda funny when you think about it and look at the date the thread was started. Ok ok. Question...

Actually let me revise my question:

This thread has not been posted to since feb'02. So, is the Pan.Scan idea no longer necessary and the simple patch to 352x480 has overtaken it, or is this still the way to go if you want to ensure that your movie can be played on ANY dvd player (provided of course it can read the media).

[rjgn]

So, is the Pan.Scan idea no longer necessary and the simple patch to 352x480 has overtaken it, or is this still the way to go if you want to ensure that your movie can be played on ANY dvd player (provided of course it can read the media).

The patch to 352x480 never "overtook" adding the Pan & Scan info.
They are two solutions to two different problems.

Patching the video simply enables you to import the video into DVDMaestro.

Adding the Pan & Scan info is not necessary for all DVD players. It depends whether or not your dvd player will cope with finding a non valid resolution on a dvd.

My dvd player doesn't. So I needed to patch the video files in order to import them into DVDMaestro plus I needed to add the Pan & Scan info so my dvd player will play the resulting dvd ok.

Oh and yes that last comment was funny ;)